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Victor Butler's importance to New Orleans Saints, among other observations from Tuesday's practice

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New Orleans Saints LB Victor Butler (90), and Will Smith (91) during the third OTA (organized team activity) at the New Orleans Saints practice facility in Metairie, Thursday May 23, 2013.
(David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

The obvious "highlight" of Tuesday's New Orleans Saints practice was the moment when linebacker Victor Butler went down after colliding with tailback Mark Ingram. Coach Sean Payton said he thinks Butler will be fine after the two players "banged knees."

That's good news, because losing Butler would be a huge setback for the Saints as they try to remake this defense. At this point, we still don't know that much about Butler, who played a backup role with the Dallas Cowboys before following defensive coordinator Rob Ryan to New Orleans. But he arguably has the highest upside of any of the Saints' outside linebackers.

Ironically, we were just talking about Butler during Tuesday's practice, trying to decide where he fits among his more established veteran teammates in our upcoming top 25 ranking of the Saints' players. I made the comment that if that ranking were based solely on predicting the future, I might rank Butler in the top five among defensive players (along with Curtis Lofton, Cameron Jordan, Keenan Lewis and Jabari Greer).

But whether Butler will indeed reach that level in his first year with the Saints remains to be seen. It's too early to evaluate what Butler -- or anyone in the front seven -- has done over the past four weeks of OTAs and minicamp practices since they aren't wearing pads or doing any live tackling. Over the past two weeks, though, Butler has been working steadily with the first-string defense as the strongside outside linebacker.

Butler and Martez Wilson have been competing at that spot, which will involve a lot of pass rushing but also some coverage responsibilities against tight ends, etc. Will Smith and Junior Galette have been working at the "Jack" outside linebacker spot, which is more of a full-time pass-rushing role. All four players will do a lot of rotating in various packages, though.

INGRAM'S IMPACT: That collision between Ingram and Butler appeared to be mostly unavoidable. Ingram had a full head of steam as he turned around the right corner on a swing pass, and Butler was trying to impede his path in the flat.

At first glance, it looked like a highlight moment for Ingram -- running through Butler with speed and power. But Butler obviously wasn't going full speed ahead at Ingram. I'd love to see the same situation again in a fully-padded training camp practice to see who wins an open-field battle like that.

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Speaking of Greer, he showed why he still belongs in that upper class of Saints defensive players during Tuesday's practice session. In the final portion of team drills, the Saints were running through simulated third-down plays with the clock expiring. On one play, Greer cut off receiver Marques Colston to intercept a pass from quarterback Drew Brees. Later, Greer swatted another Brees pass attempt away from speedy receiver Joe Morgan in the end zone.

Greer has looked solid throughout these past four weeks of practice. And I fully expect him to bounce back this year after battling various injuries throughout last season. I think the switch back to an attacking defensive style and man-to-man coverage will benefit everyone in the Saints' secondary. And during the three years that the Saints played that style of defense under Gregg Williams, Greer was the best player in New Orleans' secondary. From 2009-2011 Greer established himself as one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, just a notch below Pro Bowl level.

Greer might not be the best cornerback on the Saints' roster anymore, though, now that they've signed up-and-coming free agent Lewis, who had a breakout year with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2012. Lewis made a nice play to help break up a pass attempt to tight end Jimmy Graham during Tuesday's practice, among some other highlights he's had during the first four weeks.

Some observers considered it a "drop" by Graham, but it was a close call. Either way, drops haven't seemed to be an issue for Graham throughout the past four weeks after they plagued him throughout last season.

LEFT TACKLE STILL OPEN: Veteran Jason Smith took another turn with the first-string offense at left tackle on Tuesday. Although Charles Brown too every snap with the first string during minicamp last week, Payton said the competition is "absolutely" still wide open. Rookie Terron Armstead is also in the mix, although he has missed the past two weeks with an undisclosed injury.

I'm planning a full-length column on Smith finally getting a chance to operate under the radar later this week. Stay tuned.

One other depth chart note: Linebacker David Hawthorne worked with the second-string for the first time that we've seen in any practices open to the media. Hawthorne was slowed by an undisclosed injury earlier in OTAs, so we'll get a better feel for how the Saints are using him once training camp starts in late July.

ANOTHER VETERAN MOVE: Last week we saw backup quarterback Luke McCown dump off a screen pass to tailback Pierre Thomas for a big gain in a simulated two-minute drill. On Tuesday, we saw quarterback Seneca Wallace dump off a short pass to tailback Darren Sproles in a wide-open space in the middle of the field during that simulated third-down situation with the clock expiring.

These guys may not be as talented as Brees. But they're smart enough to know what to do with the ball if they ever get thrown into the fire.